History is full of examples of privately supplied roads and education, not to mention more difficult cases. The existence of a collective-action problem is not a sufficient argument for government intervention. To believe otherwise is to ignore the creative and imaginative capacities of individuals engaging in private collective action to overcome collective-action problems.

[2] David Henderson introduces Richard McKenzie’s new EconLib essay – one that exposes the errors that can be caused by presuming that the task of understanding reality involves little more than sticking with pedestrian observations and prejudices: http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2013/11/mckenzie_on_dri.html

[4] In my latest column in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, I plug the Cato Institute’s wonderful new interactive website, Humanprogress.org: http://triblive.com/opinion/donaldboudreaux/5002440-74/hours-ago-worker#axzz2jmmxnzcb

[5] David Friedman again puts government priorities in perspective: http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/2013/10/whator-whomatters.html

[6] John Taylor, writing in the Wall Street Journal, explains that the problem is extreme policies rather than extreme people: http://economicsone.com/2013/10/29/more-on-its-extreme-policies-not-extreme-people/

[8] Wisdom from James Pethokoukis on the alleged “infrastructure crisis.: http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/11/actually-america-doesnt-have-a-trillion-dollar-infrastructure-crisis/?utm_source=today&utm_medium=paramount&utm_campaign=110513

[10] Richard Rahn writes on the proper role of the judiciary – and that role ain’t simply (as too many conservatives have for too long insisted) to defer to legislatures: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/4/rahn-judges-with-a-rubber-stamp/